The Bay Ridge Race, De Blasio’s Public Funds: Headlines for Friday August 18

“He’s endorsed a rabidly homophobic candidate.”–Dylan Stein of Equality New York to DNAInfo, referring to Councilmember Ydanis Rodriguez’s endorsement of Ruben Diaz Sr.

Nine Candidates For City Council Seat Verbally Joust At ForumKings County Politics
“The nine candidates seeking the open District 43 City Council seat covering Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Bath Beach and Bensonhurst met in a verbal joust before a packed auditorium…The Brooklyn Reporter hosted forum featured Democrats Justin Brannan, Kevin Peter Carroll, the Rev. Khader El-Yateem, Vincent Chirico and Nancy Tong seated stage left at an eight-inch table skirted in blue plastic, while the Republican cast Bob Capano, Liam McCabe, John Quaglione and Lucretia Regina-Potter settled behind a red-draped table at stage right…District 43 encompasses two of the top rated school districts in the city -– school districts 20 and 21. Schools in both districts suffer from overcrowding and all nine candidates recognized the need to address the issue.”

The High Price of a Mayoral Race That Isn’tGina Bellafante in The New York Times
“Although almost no one imagines [De Blasio] will lose, he petitioned the board for public money regardless, successfully arguing that Mr. Gangi and another opponent, Sal Albanese, presented enough of a challenge that he should receive the near $2.6 million for which he was eligible. It is as if an heiress in the midst of a divorce demanded from the courts that her husband, a bartender, start paying her alimony…Ultimately, Mr. de Blasio is running against himself and the prospect of a humiliatingly low voter turnout — an outcome that could, arguably, hinder whatever other political ambitions he has.”

Debate for Bronx City Council SeatNorwood News through Voices of New York
“Three Democratic candidates for the 13th District City Council seat in the Bronx joined in criticizing their better known rival, Assemblyman Mark Gjonaj, at an Aug. 14 debate sponsored by BronxNet TV, writes David Cruz in Norwood News: ‘The candidates lobbed much of the mud at Gjonaj, pegging him as an established politician with heavy financial backing from the real estate sector. Even so, Gjonaj, the presumed frontrunner, stood stoic as he was needled by the candidates, which include community activist John Doyle, community activist and businessman Egidio Sementelli, and district leader for the 82nd Assembly District and Community Board 10 treasurer Majorie Velazquez.'”

Uptown Gay Activists Slam Councilman on Ruben Diaz Sr. EndorsementDNAInfo
“Several gay activists Uptown are calling on Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez to rescind his support of state Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr. — who they called one of the ‘biggest enemies’ of the gay community — or else they will be “forced to primary him out.’ Members of Equality New York and Uptown LGBT Progressives launched a petitionTuesday morning expressing their ‘anger and disappointment’ at Rodriguez for supporting a candidate who holds ‘toxic and hateful views that are harmful to all residents of New York City, but more specifically to the thousands of LGBTI residents and the hundreds of thousands of women in the Bronx.’”

Dominican-born Candidate Strives for Civil Court SeateBrooklyn Daily Eagle through Voices of New York
“Dominican-born Patria Frias-Colón, the Brooklyn borough chief of the Family Court Division of the New York City Law Department, is running in the Sept. 12 primary for one of five open seats in Brooklyn Civil Court. Brooklyn Daily Eagle’s John Alexander interviews the candidate who, if successful, would be the first Dominican-born Civil Court judge in Brooklyn. Frias-Colón recalled memories of growing up in a Bushwick tenement apartment after arriving in the U.S. and starting first grade: ‘When we got here from the Dominican Republic, that was a very huge change in what we were used to seeing. And although we grew up modest there, I never realized how poor we were until we came here.'”

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